An Unanticipated Storm
by Paopu Pop
Summary: All is at peace at Destiny Islands, or is it? Sora can't sleep at night, and everything falls apart as a unanticipated storm strikes the island... RikuxSora,AxelxRoxas
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Blah. This fanfic appeared to me in a dream... sorta. Axel got shot in the chest and was bleeding. I woke up and it worked the gears in my head. Relevance? Close to none, dearies. xD  
**

**Anyway. Don't want to rant and put ya all to sleep. The deal is, if I don't get enough reviews, this fanfic goes in the trash. Got it? Good.**

**Yes, there's some hinted Sora/Kairi, but I assure you, this is Riku/Sora and Axel/Roxas. Oh snap, pull out some popcorn.**

**Disclaimer: Okay, looky, I don't own it. The end. And stuff.

* * *

_An Unanticipated Storm_**

_Chapter 1_

"_I hope that all of you are doing well. I've sent this to you (and I'm sure that you've received it) to inform you of the current situation that is the aftermath of Kingdom Hearts._

_Although you have destroyed Xemnas (and his plans along with him) the darkness still resides among the worlds. Not to worry though, I'm sure that soon everything will become it's normal state._

There was a longer explanation, but eyes scanned over the page quickly.

_By the way, Sora—Donald and Goofy send their regards, as I do mine._

_King Mickey."_

"And that's it," Riku said, folding up the letter with a smirk.

"That can't be it!" Sora exclaimed, snatching the parchment away before his older friend could react. His eyes quickly scanned the page, reading the letter.

"Face it, Sora, the worlds are finally at peace." Riku reached over Sora's shoulder and took the letter back.

"Except for the darkness that the king mentioned," chirped Kairi.

"Yeah, that. But you can _relax." _He smiled.

Sora sighed. "I suppose..." He peered over at the endless ocean. "But don't you feel like something's still wrong?"

Riku and Kairi both looked at each other, and shook their heads in unison. "No..."

"Maybe it's just me, then."

"Yup," they replied again.

"Well, gee, let's not get any more _concerned..._" Sora laughed. They were probably right. Just him...

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

That night, Sora was having more trouble falling asleep than the time he, Donald and Goofy were forced to sleep in the jungle. 

First it began as a sudden twitchy feeling that he had. His fingers continued to flex slightly, and soon he couldn't help shifting his body's position every three seconds. He wondered why his body just wouldn't _relax._ When he finally got himself to settle and fall asleep, a dream disturbed him...

"_Sora." He looked around for the voice. He _knew _it, but couldn't remember who it belonged to... "Sora..." it repeated tauntingly._

"_Who... who are you?"_

"_You don't remember?" A vision of his blonde-haired doppleganger appeared. "How sad, that you've forgotten the dark side of your heart."_

"_R-Roxas?"_

_He smiled. "Can you feel it?"_

"_What?"_

"_Can you feel me?"_

He opened his eyes to see the darkness. For a moment he panicked—until his eyes adjusted. He was sitting in his own room. It was just a dream—no, just a nightmare.

Or... was it?

He clutched his chest tight. Since when was Roxas so... sinister?

A distant memory of seeing him pass by with that smug look on his face flashed, but left as soon as it came. In the end, hadn't it been Roxas confronting Naminé kindly?

But Roxas was a Nobody. So how did that make sense?...

Deciding it was just a dream, he rolled over on his stomach and fell back to sleep, this time, without anything to haunt him.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

"Sora, you're going to be late for school!" 

Groan, flip. "Can I stay hoooome?" Another muffled groan.

"Get your butt down here before I make it come down!"

"Then can the rest of me sleep in?"

A huff came from the adult female as she entered the bedroom. "I'm not in the mood today. You're going to school, and that's final! Don't you want to see your friends?"

"Not really... I'd rather sleep in." He crawled under the sheets like a mouse under a rug.

"Sora!" Startled when he was dragged out of the bed by the ankle, he shuffled about floor, trying to grab the closest (and preferrably clean) uniform.

"I want you outside in five minutes! Riku's been down there for ten already."

"Riku's downstairs?" he scrambled faster as his mother left the room, a finger to her temple. White shirt, on. Navy pants, on. Tie strung around neck loosely. Brown shoes, on. Socks... meh, too late. Didn't need 'em anyway.

He rushed downstairs, grabbing the piece of toast his mother hung in his face on the way out. He nibbled on the toast as he greeted Riku, who was leaning on the side of the house, wearing the same uniform.

"Decided to go to school today?" he laughed, walking alongside Sora as both boys moved at a fast pace.

"My mom dragged me out of bed. She's not usually that grouchy..."

"You've gotten two tardies already, Sora, and we've only been back a week."

"I can't sleep." He gave a long yawn as he spoke.

"Still used to sleeping on the ground?" he chuckled.

"Well, I—" He was about to tell Riku about the dream last night, but he decided against it. It was probably the lack of sleep getting to him, anyway. He could just hear Riku laughing at him again. "Sure, why not."

"I'm quite used to sleeping on a mattress, and _man _does it feel good." They walked in silence for no longer than a minute when Riku observed, "Sora, your tie's _completely _crooked."

"Rushed," was his one word reply.

"Here, I'll fix it, if you stop moving a moment..."

"We don't have time! We have to get to school—"

"We have a _moment, _geez, calm down." He butted in front of Sora and put a hand to his chest, giving the younger no option but to stop. He readjusted the blue tie before they began their walk again. "I thought you didn't care about going to school?"

"Well, you're right... I _have _been late twice already." He wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was only 7:45, and already the sun was threatening to melt whatever resided under it's hot rays. "Besides, I was ready to think that my mom was going to... I dunno..."

"Castrate you?"

Sora's face flushed. "Err... no..."

"Oh, Sora, I see you're _blushing_..."Riku teased.

"N-no I'm not!" He covered his face with his hands.

"You wouldn't want to be castrated for Kai—"

"_Riku!_" Sora shouted again, his blush deepening.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

"Sora... Sora... pssst..." 

"Sora." The second, louder voice had managed to rouse the boy from his sleepy trance. "Can you tell me who first discovered Destiny Islands?"

Unfortunately, he couldn't. Sora was terrible with history. He began to babble incoherently, until the teacher shook his head. "I just told you two seconds ago. Yulan Aurion. Now, if you'll turn your textbooks to page one hundred twelve..."

Sora couldn't look more like an idiot if he had tried.Okay, that was a lie, there was the time that he accidently launched his pencil halfway across the room...

He turn to Kairi, who was giving him a sheepish look. "I tried to tell you..."

"It's all right," he whispered back, flipping pages.

Two seconds later, a piece of paper was slid by gentle fingers on his desk. He gently unfolded it and read the feminine-like handwriting:

"_What's wrong?"_

He scritched quickly on the paper before returning it to his owner.

"_Just sleepy."_

A few seconds, and it was back.

"_You look dead."_

"_I feel dead."_

"_Miss lugging around a Keyblade all the time?"_

"_Course I do! But, I mean, I missed you the whole time..."_

There was a smiley face drawn by the next response._ "I know."_

Sora was about to respond when he saw two brown eyes in his direction. He slipped the paper underneath the book and tried to read. _"Yulan Aurion first discovered the island while scuba diving with crafty clowns. It was a long journey, but they finally made it back to the sandy shores of—"_

His eyes began to close, and for a few seconds, he went to sleep. When he realized he was still in school, he awoke in shock, and began reading again. _"Yulan Aurion first discovered the islands while riding on a raft, according to historians. It was a long journey, but when he finally landed on the sandy shores, he discovered the island people and began to industrialize..."_

That's not what he read before, but it made more sense. Had he dreamt he was still reading the first time? He decided not to think about it and forced himself to continue. It was going to be a long day...

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

"Sora?" 

"I think we've just lost him."

"Sora? Come in, Sooooorrrra!" He jerked up, Selphie's face deathly close to his own. "You've been out of it lately!"

"This isn't news, Selphie," Tidus said, continuing to eat his onigiri. **(1)**

"I should've went home and eaten instead..." Sora sighed. "I could have slept on the couch and went back to school."

"You can sleep here in the shade. It's kind of nice being out here alone, almost everybody else went home," Tidus said. "Even Kairi and Wakka did."

Sora was currently laid down, already finished with lunch. "We have another hour yet until classes begin again," he moaned. "I'm takin' a nap."

"Good, because you need one," Riku said, poking the brunette's cheek with an index finger. "If you start dreaming that you're reading about how scuba diving clowns discovered Destiny Islands, you're not getting enough sleep."

"I _can't _sleep..." he said, closing his eyes.

"It looks like you can now."

There was a silence among the four friends. "I just can't fall asleep at night."

"But you're so exhausted now that..."

"I'm... falling asleep..." and within seconds, Sora was out like a light. Riku gazed upon him for a few moments. After over a year's time, Sora's hormones had kicked in— he had grown taller, and his voice had finally began to deepen and his factual features became more mature. But he still had that boyish face of his...

Selphie broke the peaceful silence as she smirked at Riku and chirped, "You're admiring Sora, again..."

Riku looked at her and, which came on rare occasions, his face reddened. "What are you _talking _about?"

"Admit it, Riku! You like him!"

Silence. "He's my best friend, of course I like him."

"No, you _like _him. But, alas! Kairi and Sora have something _going _between them, and you're too heartbroken to admit that you want to become between them and—"

"Selphie, get out of your romantic fantasies," Tidus interposed. "and stop making run-on sentences."

"But _Tidus_..." she whined.

Riku turned away, watching the palm trees rustling in the wind. He tuned out his two friends, (who were now arguing about Riku's _like _for Sora) clearing his mind of everything. Though Sora seemed to readjust back into their island life again, he was suffering from some form of insomnia. It caused some concern in Riku.

That, and he had a bad feeling in his gut.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

"_Sora..."_

"_Roxas?" rang Sora's voice quietly._

"_Hah. So you've decided to remember me now?" _

"_Roxas, what's going on? Why—why are you acting this way?"_

"_Do you not see it?"_

"_See what?" No response, aside from the silence. "Roxas?" He felt himself start to run in the darkness, but could not find the voice's owner anywhere..._

"Sora! Sora, what's wrong?" He blinked his eyes open. For a few seconds, the new setting confused him... where was his room? The thought clicked as he realized he had fallen asleep on the schoolyard, underneath the big palm tree. Riku was kneeled by his side, hovering over him slightly. "You okay?"

"Uhh... yeah..." he rolled on his side. "Why?"

"You were groaning in your sleep—but you usually sleep so soundly." He shrugged. "Maybe it's from your sleep problems?"

"Y-yeah..."

"Class starts in ten minutes. Let's get you up and walking." He pushed off the ground with a hand and held his hand down towards the brunette, who gratefully took it and stood up. He became lightheaded within few seconds, stumbling into Riku, who almost didn't catch him. "Are you _sure _you're okay?"

"Uh huh..." he nodded into Riku's chest, beginning to compete with his closing eyes.

"If you say so. You've gotta stand up, you know." He used Sora's shoulders to stand the boy up properly. "I'm not carrying you around from class to class like some princess." The two blue eyes that usually shone at Riku brightly only stared back at Riku impassively.

Was Sora really that tired? When they were kids, even after a sleepless night, the boy could be bouncing off walls... just, not as much.

"Come on..." Riku tugged on his hand and led him towards the small school, which began filling with more students.

He hoped, for Sora's sake, he would be all right...

The bad feeling in his stomach seemed to worsen.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

"_Tonight it's going to be partly cloudy with a high of 50 and a low of 38. Tomorrow the clouds are going to clear up and it's going to be a sunny day! A high of 97 and a low of 91. Remember to use sunscreen and drink plenty of wa—"_

"This time of year, we were just planning to get away on the raft," Kairi observed happily as she flicked off the radio. "Remember?"

"How could we _forget?_" Riku smiled. He stirred the remaining ice in his glass with the straw, watching Kairi stroll through the kitchen, picking up used dishes and setting them in the sink. "Although..." His eyebrows lowered in thought. "Does Sora seem to be acting strange to you?"

"He's been tired," she said, her good mood silently ebbing away at the thought. "Maybe he's just getting used to the islands."

"Maybe something's bothering him," Riku offered. "Remember what he said when we received the letter from the king?" He didn't want to be the hobgoblin of anymore worries for Kairi, so he spoke nothing of the bad feeling he had begun to get himself.

She didn't seem to feel it along with the two boys. "Could be. But that badly?"

"Who knows? Whatever it is, he's going to be stubborn and not say a word about it."

"That's Sora..." A ghost of a smile was on Kairi's lips as she turned away and stared out the window, watching the sunset. "It just seems surreal."

"What does?"

A pause before she replied, "Having you two back here on the islands."

The older boy stood from his chair. "Isn't it, though?" He laughed. "For a while, I thought I would never make it back." Kairi gave Riku a stunned look. "That I would be forever consumed by the darkness. And for a while, I didn't even _want _to come back. Isn't it shameful, falling prisoner to the darkness—"

"Riku!" The redhead's hand was inches away from Riku's face. "Sometimes you can be _such _an _idiot!_"

He was, for once, appalled with Kairi.

"We were just glad to find you! And you... you would have rather stayed behind in humility?" Before he could find the words to respond, she reached out and embraced him, holding him close. "It would have broken Sora's heart—no matter how strong it may be—if he never saw you again. I can't even imagine how hard he looked for us..."

Neither could Riku.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

Sora laid in bed, unable to sleep. He was now getting frustrated. Of course he could _easily _fall asleep in the middle of the day, but in the dark... 

He just couldn't find himself to relax.

But why not?

His body shuddered occasionally, making the mattress shake. He grasped the bedsheets to try to get himself to stop, but his fingers still twitched against the soft material. It was a half hour later when he finally settled, and fifteen when his brain told his body to shut down.

"_Sora..."_

"_Roxas! Where are you?"_

"_Right here."_

"_Right, where?"_

"_I've been with you this whole time."_

"_But, I mean, why are you..."_

"_I know you sense it."_

"_Sense it?... What are you talking about?"_

"_Why do you think you can't sleep?"_

"_You—you know why?"_

"_Of course I do."_

"_Then, what is it—"_

Sora's eyes snapped open. When he saw the clock, he cursed to himself. It was only three in the morning. Tossing and turning for another hour did nothing for him.

He decided he might as well get up and _do _something... at least it was Saturday, and there was no school.

Relieved at the flicker of his light, he walked towards the closet and shoveled through the mounds of stuff that was jammed in the small dimensional space. First thing flung on his bed was a thin, paperback book. And another one top of that. He slammed the closet door shut, hoping that no sorts of monsters (or at least, cockroaches,) were living in the place he stored bounds of random stuff.

Next, he shuffled through his desk. He knew he had them somewhere—and with a proclamation of "Aha!" he set the giant box of crayons on his bed, where he settled onto and opened one of the books.

They were used coloring books— filled random pages rich with colored scribbles. When was the last time Sora had opened, or even_ looked _at them?

He flipped through until a page caught his attention, and immediately he opened the box of crayons.

Three friends, two boys and a girl, were fishing by a river. A girl had a giant fish caught on her line, as it jumped in air and produced exaggerated drops of water spraying out. The one boy was sitting by her side, watching with a look of awe on his face, while the third was by their side, but looked as if he were paying more attention to the frog than the other two.

He hummed to himself quietly as he imbued the page with bright colors. It took him approximately a half an hour until the page was complete. Leaving it open at that page, he opened the next book, flipping through until he found a picture with two lions, a bird, and a turtle. He wore a melancholic smile, remembering when Donald, Goofy and he went to the Pridelands, fighting against the hyenas, helping Simba save the kingdom as the three continued their journey to save the Kingdom Hearts...

Crayons shaded the memories that stained his face with tears.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

He had collasped against the books as he struggled to finish. 

When he came to, his eyes blinked open slowly. The rush feeling of cold hit him, his body instinctively reacting and beginning to shiver. He pushed the books gently off his bed and crawled into the sheets, searching for warmth. It helped some—but he still shook gently.

The next thought that came to him was... what time was it? He rolled over to check, and almost rolled right out of bed when he saw the time.

_Three o' clock! _"Holy..."

He sat up, and immediately went back down. He was too tired even then to get up...

"Sora, sweetie?" His mother walked in, a wet cloth in her hand. "I heard you getting you up and—"

"Why didn't you wake me up before?"

"I heard you up pretty early this morning," she replied, "and I thought you could use whatever rest came to you."

"Until _three_?"

"Well, I didn't think you were that tired, but I decided to let you sleep in as repayment for yesterday morning." She chuckled. "I was up working on papers all night, that's why I was such a grouch. Forgive me?"

Sora smiled. "Of course. I would have been late, anyway."

"You _troublemaker_," she teased, walking to him and pulling a cheek. Her hand was cold—_unnaturately _cold to the touch and he pulled his face away. She had a look of surprise on her face. "Sora, are you still waking up?"

"Yeah..." he grumbled. He hadn't meant to upset his mom at the pull-away, really, but he was cold enough...

"Listen, your father and I are going out soon, and we'll be gone for the rest of the night. You'll be all right on your own, right?"

"Yup."

"I'll call to check up on you later in the evening. Wake up, get a shower..."

"I know, I know," he said, sitting up, shivering slightly again. "I can feed myself too."

"Can you now?" she joked. There was a pause, and the smile on her face dropped. "Sora, are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You're shivering."

"I'm cold."

"How are you cold? It's ninety-five degrees out!"

"It is?" He held the comforter closer to his body. "It feels like... I dunno, cold!"

She rose an eyebrow. "Are you _sure _you're okay?" Holding a hand to his forehead, she clicked her tongue, _tsk-tsk-tsk_. "Low fever. You'll be all right?"

"If I'm not, I could always call you or someone else," he said. "Mom, I can take care of myself, sick or not. I'm fine." He felt fine too—well, discluding the cold part.

She hummed quickly as she pressed a kiss to his forehead. "We'll be leaving in a half hour, okay?" Without another word, she left the room, leaving Sora to fend for himself.

He laid in bed for five minutes before getting up and sauntering towards the

bathroom, a bundle of clothes in his arms. They were tossed on the floor, along with a towel stacked on top, and he stripped and showered, trying to soak in thoughts along with the water.

By the time he was done and redressed, his parents were gone, and he was alone by himself. It didn't really matter, though—he was more tired than the previous night. Maybe he _was _sicker than he had originally thought...

Ducking under his blankets on his bed, he snuggled in their warmth. But cold overtook his body, and he shuddered every few minutes. Soon it was becoming steady tremble, and as much as he forced himself to relax, he couldn't stop. He exhausted himself into sleep, shivering even then.

He did not hear the distant thunder of a very unexpected storm.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

The phone chimed throughout the house, but it silenced within seconds. "Riku, it's for you!" The mentioned boy grumbled, rising from his chair and taking the phone in the kitchen from the woman. "Thanks, Mom." He held the earpiece to his phone. "Hello?" 

"Riku, this is Mrs. Hikari."

"Oh, hi Mrs. Hikari... what can I do for you?"

"Well, I hear that a thunderstorm's coming, so I tried to call Sora at home, but there was no response. I've been trying for the last half an hour actually, and I was wondering—"

"Sure, I can check up on him for you."

"Oh, you're a lifesaver. Thanks so much, give him a nice hit on the head for me, would you?"

"Can do, Mrs. Hikari. Have a good night."

"You too." The phone made a _click-_ing noise from the other side, signaling that it was dead. He hung the phone onto the receiver. "Mom, I'm going to Sora's!" he announced, slipping his feet into his sneakers. "I'll be back in a bit..."

"Okay! Don't be back too late! Give me a call if you decide to sleep over like last time!"

"Got it!" He closed the door behind him as he left for the house. As he was turning to walk towards Sora's house, his eyes wandered to the closest shore, where black clouds began gathering in the distance. Mrs. Hikari had been _right, _it was starting to storm... but the weather had said it was supposed to be a clear day.

Although, the weather _did _tend to be wrong from time to time...

* * *

**S/N: 1) Onigiri rice balls. Rice balls sounded stupid.**

**A/N: In case you don't understand the lunch system, they get a long period of time for lunch and then go back for classes. I think an island would be more laid back, instead of the American "rush-n-go" kind of lunch, where you shove food down your gullet. Oi... **

**I know, no Riku/Sora-ness yet. But, meh, we're getting there, LEAVE ME ALONE. (hisses) Axel/Roxas is coming too. Patience is a vulture. You've got vultures, don't you?**

**For those of you who have been waiting for my _Cinderfella _update—I'm so sorry! I'm suffering from writer's block right now. Dx But I'm brainstorming! o.o**

**Review or I'll totally drop this fic... and this time I mean it. Don't you love threats?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yay! You all win another chapter and... MUFFINS. And if you don't like muffins, you can all have like, cookies or something. But you can't have any Dr. Pepper, it's all mine (though when I go to work, I get all the free Dr. Pepper I want. xD ) What I'm trying to say is thanks for all the reviews. I got more than I was expecting.**

**So, here we go kiddos. MY SPECIAL DISCLAIMER.**

**Sora dressed in a suit: (clears throat) ShimaGenki doesn't own anything that doesn't belong to her.  
Genki: (gasp) You're so cuuuuute in a suuuuuit! (huggles)  
Sora: (blush)

* * *

**

**An Unanticipated Storm**

_Chapter 2

* * *

_

Fast-paced footsteps kicked up sand as Kairi rushed to get home, droplets softly spritzing her clothes. Whatever happened to a _sunny day?_

But when she saw something lying in the sand, she was paralyzed to the spot. She was imagining things... it wasn't really there. A trick of the light... right? The drizzle began to fall down faster and harder which kicked her brain back into gear, and she ran towards the figure, lying in the sand. Kneeling beside it, she turned the black lump of clothing around and covered her mouth in disbelief.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

"Sora!" Riku stumbled in the door, hearing another rumble of thunder. "Sora?" He shut the door behind him and walked about the rooms, searching for where his companion may be. When he searched every possible room, he headed for the stairs when he heard rain begin to fall steadily.

'_Guess I'll be staying the night unless the rain clears up,' _he thought, disembarking from the staircase and walking towards Sora's bedroom. He noticed that the lighting in the house became dimmed by the storm, but did nothing to compensate it. When he pushed open the door to greet Sora, he did not see him at first—until the lump under the bed sheets gave it away.

"Sora..." he said, making a teasing notion with his index finger. "It's five o' clock now; it's time to wake up." Approaching the bed, he reached to touch Sora when he noticed the trembling figure. "Hey, you're not _scared _of a thunderstorm, are you?"

"O-of course not," finally came the murmur of the brunette under the bundle of sheets.

"Then why are you shaking?"

"B-because..." But the sentence was only finished by a sharp gasp.

"Sora? Are you alright?" The corners of Riku's grin began to drop.

"Oh, _god_ i-it's so c-cold..."

"Sora? I hope you're kidding."

"Riku... it... it's r-really cold i-in here. A-aren't you f-_freezing_?"

His green eyes were now bigger and full of concern. Although it was a _little _colder than before the rain, the temperature hadn't dropped by much. It was still decently warm, at least inside of the house. So how Sora was shaking from _cold_?Unless...

"Sora, look at me for a second."

"B-but... it's t-too... c-cold..."

"Hey, come on." He grabbed the corner of the bed sheet and gently tugged it away until he uncovered Sora's face. His eyes squinted a bit more at the air exposure, until Riku's hand laid gently on his forehead. The smaller coaxed into the touch, relaxing a tad more.

Sora looked like he had a fever, but his face was frozen cold.

Now Riku was frightened.

"Sora? Are you okay?"

"I'm c-cold, still..."

"Here." Riku crawled onto the bed next to Sora, tossing the fabrics out of his way and sprawling out his legs. "Maybe the age-old trick of body heat will help you."

He could almost see Sora's face flush, but he thought it may have been his imagination more than real. Actually, seeing his cheeks redden would have set him more at ease. But Sora complied, wriggling out of the covers and crawling into his older friend's lap. Instantly Sora was surrounded in the heat of Riku, burying his face into the crook of the silver-headed teen's neck to absorb as much heat as his body would allow.

Riku could feel a furious flush over himself, fighting hormones and reminding himself that he was just helping Sora. He wrapped a blanket around the two of them and snuggled closer to Sora, doing all he could. "Better?"

"M-much."

A cold chill ran down Riku's spine as lightning flashed in the sky. Thunder growled and two hands tightened their grip on the older's clothing.

"You okay?"

No reply.

"Sora?"

Still none—excluding Sora's quickened breathing.

"Hey, Sora? What's wrong?"

"It... hurts..."

"Hurts? What does?"

"I don't... know..." Fear gripped Riku's voice. What did he mean, _he didn't know? _"My... heart..." Another bolt of lightning flickered in the sky, followed by a rumble of thunder loud enough to shake the trinkets on Sora's shelves. The brunette squeezed his eyes shut and held Riku closer. "It's... my heart."

"Your... heart?" Riku managed to choke.

He hummed softly in reply. But his hum morphed into a sort of _squeal, _quivering fingers weaved through the fabrications of Riku's clothing. This feeling was almost familiar to Riku, but what was he trying to recall, the thought tugging at his memory?

When the next round of lightning and thunder came to pass, it smacked him in the face.

It was no wonder that the weather hadn't called for _this _storm... it was no ordinary thunderstorm at all!

"R-Riku..." Suddenly he began to sob freely, tears soaking Riku's blue tank top.

"Sora, pull yourself together... Sora?"

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

"Ugh... where am I?" the all-too familiar man rose a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes open. Soon the green orbs blinked open and he rose from where he sat. He peered at the girl sitting next to him, and he squeezed his eyes open and shut a few times. "...Kairi?"

"_Axel_?" Disbelief choked her senses.

"Kairi, you... didn't make it?"

Confusion swept over her at the question. When she realized that he thought she had died too, she replied, "No! But, wait, I thought you were dead!"

"_Thought_? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're at Destiny Islands, Axel! You're not dead, at least, I don't _think _you are. But I thought you were... oh, now I've got myself all flustered!"

"I'm... quite lost myself..." He looked for the right words as his eyes scanned the open ocean. Black clouds swirling in the distance woke him from his dizzy trance. "Um, hey, who called for the spooky storm?"

"Apparently not the weather man," Kairi huffed.

Curious, Axel gave her a strange look. "A _weather man_? Who's that, a man who makes weather?"

Awkward pause. "No... he just says what the weather's going to be like."

"How does he know?"

Realizing the discussion had gone in a different direction than intended, she brought the topic back on track by asking, "But what do you mean by a _spooky_ storm?"

"You see those clouds over there?" He pointed a finger towards the blackened clouds. Kairi nodded. "Those aren't your regular storm clouds. They're derived from _darkness. _Got it memorized?"

"Darkness?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?"

Clouds from _darkness... _ did that mean the feeling Sora had was the warning of the darkness all along? Plus, now Axel was here... things were piling up and barely making sense!

"What's that bad look on your face for?"

"Sora..." was all she said.

"Sora?"

"Why do you think... you came here?"

"I don't know. It's as much as a mystery to me as it is to you. All I remember was thinking that I was dying... and now I'm here."

A clap of thunder shook their nerves.

"Come on, let me get you to the house so we can talk about this more." She took his wrist and dragged him along. Axel was having trouble walking on the sand, albeit that he had been on the beach once before, and was lagging behind otherwise.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

"Hey, shh... it'll be okay, just calm down..." Riku gently shook the crying Sora. Somewhere he had lost his mind and just... _broke. _Whether it was the storm or his strange illness, the older could not decipher, and only held Sora close to him.

"He's here..." he murmured, "He's here, but I can't call to him..."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't—he's there. But I don't know how to reach him, he seems too far."

"Sora, what in the _hell_..."

"Please, let me see him!" He wriggled in Riku's tight hold. "I want to find him... _please, _let me see him!"

"Sora!"

"Stop calling me that! Let me go, I want to find Axel!"

Riku's heart froze.

"Axel's... dead. Sora—"

"My name isn't _Sora_! Now, let me go!"

"...what are you talking about? Your name _is _Sora! And Axel's not here!" Perhaps it was the darkness that was driving Sora mad... but in any reason, Riku had to fight back the tears that threatened to spill.

"My name is _Roxas_!ROXAS!" The brightest lightning bolt flashed with the loudest roll of thunder, scaring Riku into just holding his Sora tighter. "Axel is here, and I know it! _Please, _for the love of _god, _let me go, you bastard!"

"Sora, come back to your senses!"

"For the last time—I'm not!—" But something made the brunette pause in his speech, and time became motionless. When freed of his spell, Sora looked up at Riku with heart-piercing eyes. "Riku... are you still here?"

"...are you okay?"

"For a moment, I... I heard myself _screaming, _but all I could see was darkness. And... .then I heard you... and... I don't know. All I _do _know is that my head is throbbing." He held his head with a single hand. "And my chest feels tight and my throat is sore..."

"Hey, it'll be all over soon. I think the storm's passing, see?" He looked towards the window, and Sora peeked his head over. Indeed, the lightning and thunder became less and the downpour was now a gentle rain.

"Yeah..." He snuggled his face into Riku's shoulder. "Hey, Riku?"

"What is it?"

"I—" He was cut off by a ringing phone. _Riiing. Riiing. Riiing._

"Aren't you going to pick that up?" _Riiing._

"...let them leave a message."

_Riiing. Riiing. "Hello, you have reached the Hikari residence. Please leave a name and number with your message and we'll return your call. Thank you!" Beeeep._

"_Sora, this is Kairi. If you get this message sometime soon, please come over to my house. If not, well... it's Sunday tomorrow, so come over then anyway. Actually, you know, call me back when you get this. See ya." _

_Beeep._

"Maybe I should—"

"It can wait." Riku refused to let go of his hold on his friend. "Sleep some more. I have no clue what just happened, but... let's calm down before doing anything else."

"_Let's_? As in, _let us_?"

Sigh. "What, you don't think you worried me?"

"Well, that is, uhh..."

"You gave me quite a scare, actually. _Now. _We're sleeping."

"Won't your mother get mad at you if you sleep over without calling her?"

He _did _have a point. But at the same time, as Riku voiced, "The rain and me not coming back will give her a clue."

"And if the rain stops if we're still asleep?"

"...then... oops." He gingerly pushed Sora forward and laid down in the bed. "Here, I'll be right beside you if anything happens or if you get cold again."

"...this is odd..." was all Sora had to say as he snuggled in beside Riku. "But, okay. I appreciate it. G'night, Riku." When he closed his eyes, Riku observed, he resembled an angel born of light. With such a heart, anybody could take on that appearance.

"'night, Sora," he whispered back, not sure if Sora was awake any longer or not.

He struggled to keep his eyes open, watching Sora for a few more moments. The rain didn't seem to stop anytime soon. Riku's eyes widened a bit when Sora shuddered, mumbled something, and fidgeted again. He thought, _'Maybe it's just from being asleep,' _but this happened a few more times. He couldn't help wrapping Sora in his arms and cradling him softly.

Maybe Selphie was actually... _right_. Maybe Riku really _did _like Sora. As in _like _Sora. He could say for sure he'd sooner like Sora more than Kairi. And well, he pretty much didn't care. Girls weren't really his... _thing _anyway.

All he really asked for was to hold Sora like this a little bit longer.

In his embrace, Sora still fidgeted. Maybe a song would do? Perhaps Riku wasn't the best singer in the world, but he wasn't cracking windows and his voice was soft like clouds, whisking Sora to more peaceful dreams...

Riku breathed in timidly (a rare thing for Riku to do) before singing quietly in another language. _"We've set forth and can't stop yet because of a promise to meet again. Without reason, your tears spill for me. They didn't overflow, but were there beneath your eyelids. There's nobody on the station platform. I stop and watch, and I can hear your voice. Looking for hope is like the many ships that have crossed a wide, endless ocean. I'm not afraid to go for sail; from here, we'll start our trip by facing each new wave." _**(1)**

He began to hum the second verse before he, too, fell into sweet dreams.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

"—_your message and we'll return your call. Thank you!" Beeeep. _

"_Sora? Are you awake yet, sweetie? I sent Riku over to the house to check up on you. We'll be home soon, okay? Love you, bye!" Beeep._

"I think it's late." Sora said quietly.

"It's dark out. I should call Mom."

"Are you going to?"

"Probably not. It's still raining."

"Somehow I don't think it's going to let up." Silence. "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Why are you hugging me?"

Riku's face turned into a brilliant shade of red. "W-well, that is..." The stuttering teen sat up in the bed, releasing Sora. He chuckled awkwardly. "I... don't know!" Before he rolled out of bed, he noticed something awfully strange below his feet. "Sora?" He kneeled over and picked up the coloring books, waving them in front of Sora. "A blast from the past?"

"Hey!" He reached over to snatch them out of the snide teen's grip, but Riku simply held them out of reach and flipped through one.

"Nice work, Sora! You colored _inside_ the lines!"

"_Riku_!" Sora whined, his sudden health improvement showing.

"They're so pretty! Ooh, I wanna color one too!"

"Stop it!" He curled out his bottom lip, pouting.

His eyes searched about the floor until they spotted the toppled box of crayons. He picked up the small cardboard package and set them on the bed. "Come on, color with me!"

Silence. "Are you... _serious_?"

"Yeah, really! Here's your other one." He threw it at Sora. "I'm tired of being so... _grown up. _Let's chill and be kids again."

"I really didn't color before because I was trying to be a kid..." But Riku wasn't listening, flipping through the coloring book. Sora didn't bother to finish as he set his book down and turned different pages.

"Hey, what's this?"

"What's what?" Sora perched his chin on Riku's shoulder to see what he was talking about.

"This looks like..."

"The three of us. I know."

"Well, yeah, but it looks like I'm being left out here!" he laughed openly.

Blush. "...well, I mean... that's the way it was _drawn_. I didn't do it, I just colored it!"

"I'm just kidding, you don't have to get so worked up about it." Reaching back, he tousled brunette locks. "It's cute."

"...did you just call it _cute_?"

"..." Cue furious reddening of cheeks. "...no."

"Yes, you did!" He jerked Riku's shoulder back and forth. "I can't believe Riku just called something _cute_!"

"If you tell _anyone_, you're dead!" Quite serious, he sent Sora a glare.

"Hmm? You want to try that?"

"Pff. Last time I checked, the score's 234 to 232."

"No, you forgot Xemnas."

Growl. "But that still puts me ahead by one." Before Sora could react, Riku spun and pinned Sora to the bed. "Now, did I call you cute?" he asked, overcasting a shadow on Sora.

Sora's happy smile turned into a stunned, confused blink. "...what did you just say?"

"I said, 'Now, did I call you—'" Riku's heart sank. Mental recall. "_it _cute?"

"...Riku?" There was a discomforting tone in his voice. "You really didn't mean to say that, did you?"

"O-of course not."

"I... don't believe you..."

Slapping him mentally about a thousand and twenty-six times in the face, he pushed himself off Sora and rose from the bed. "I'm going to call my mom. You don't mind if I stay over still, do you?"

"Of course not. I don't want you to walk home in this rain, stupid!" Only replying with a groan, Riku staggered out of the room. When he was out of sight, Sora clutched his chest. _'I could have sworn he—no, it's just your imagination overreacting again.'_

His eyes shifted around the room, trying to focus on other things. But when something like _that _happens to you, what else can you think about? Breathe in, breathe out. No big deal, just a slip-up on pronouns...

"Sora?" Riku popped out from the side of the doorway. "Hey, I'm going to call Kairi back for you. Okay?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, go ahead." He disappeared once again.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

"_Axel_? Are you serious, Kairi?"

"_Never been more serious."_

"You sure it wasn't a dream?"

"_He's right here! Look, gimme a sec—Axel, could you come—well, first stop stuffing your face full of Teddy Grahams, and please come here for a minute! They'll still be there when you're done, promise. Say hi to Riku for me."_

"Kairi. Stop being stupid and—"

"_Yo. It's Axel."_

Riku dropped the phone. _CLUNK._

"_...hey, uh, Riku? You still there?"_

The silver-haired teen scrambled to pick up the phone. "What. In. The. _Hell _are you still doing in existence?"

"_Don't know. Got a lucky break, I guess."_

"Axel."

"_Yeah?"_

"Give the phone back to Kairi."

"_Attitude much? I just left my delicious Heartless lookin' treats to chat with a little brat. Here, Kairi, he's done yelling at me."_

"_Riku, look, I know it's hard to believe—"_

"Me and Sora are heading over _now_."

"_Are you sure? In the rain?"_

"We're going to anyway. We'll be over in about a half hour." Before Kairi could rebel, he hung the phone up and flew for Sora's room. "Sora!"

"Hm?" Sora snapped from a zombie-state and peered up at Riku.

"We're going over to Kairi's. _Now_." He tugged on the brunette's wrist.

"W-wait, hold the phone! My parents are going to be home soon."

"You're right. ...we'll leave them a note. We have to leave _now—"_

"It's still raining!"

"You've got umbrellas, don't you?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Come on—"

"HOLD IT!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, shutting Riku up. He cleared his throat and said, "I want to ask you something."

"Hm?" Riku cocked his head to the side.

"What's the sudden urgency?"

"Well, I... think you won't believe it until you see it."

"At least a hint?"

Pause. "A certain redhead."

"Kairi? That's not a hint at all!"

Such a misleading one, Riku could be.

* * *

**S/N: (1) – This is me being lazy, but nice. Originally I was going to have Riku singing in Japanese, (which he is) but I decided to just chuck the translation in instead. It's _Ano Yume No Mokou e _from Alphonse's vocal CD. (Fullmetal Alchemist.) It's quite a cute song if you ever get the chance to hear it. I thought of using this for a song fic (but I might anyway...) ...I am _so _babbling.**

**A/N: Those of you who don't know my fanfiction very well, don't expect updates this quick very often. I just wanted to keep writing before the idea escaped. And it _still _morphed...**

**Sorry if there's grammar mistakes—I ran a spell check and reviewed it quickly. Speaking of reviewing...**

**Keep on reviewing, kiddos. Please and SANK YOU.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I got more feedback on this fanfic than I was expecting, seriously. Thank you, I know I'm not that great of a writer, but it's nice to see that people read the stuff I write anyway. If getting 100 reviews by the second chapter meant that much to me, I would have given up fanfiction a long time ago.**

**Anyway, sob moment. In short, thanks for reviewing and reading.**

**I should have you know that this fanfic isn't going to be that long... I have a major project going now, and I have another one coming (at least, I think) that I anticipate more than, like, _anything. _I'll give this story two more chapters after this one... at most.**

**Disclaimer: I don't ownz it... the end.

* * *

**

**_An Unanticipated Storm_**

_Chapter 3

* * *

_

"Oh, _I'm singing in the_—"

"Do you have to sing that?" Riku interrupted loudly, giving a quick glare to Sora as they both ran through the torrent of rain.

"I thought it would lighten the mood," he replied, his voice barely audible over the steady beat of water.

Even as both boys defended themselves with medium-sized umbrellas, the wind swung the rain underneath their colorful shields. Neither had really prepared themselves well—not even a jacket kept them from getting soaked.

A bright flash of lighting and a roll of thunder kept the boys on their feet. "We're just _asking _to become lightning rods!" Riku cried out.

"Then _why _are we out here?"

"You'll see!"

As they continued to sprint through the blinding rain, the feeling in Sora's stomach began to turn uneasily. He stumbled slightly, and felt his heart palpitate. He tripped over himself again.

Riku felt something brush against his leg. He turned to glance back, but braked himself with a heel when he saw a body sprawled on the muddy path. The umbrella in his hand fell to the ground and he kneeled by Sora's side.

"Are you alright?"

"Ugh... yeah, I just fell." He felt two strong arms lift him and hold him up. His heart palpitated again; an unnatural beat hitting against his ribcage. He grasped his chest and coughed in reaction. Looking up, he could barely make out the boy who gripped him, but could feel what he was about to ask. "I'm all right, really."

With the older's help, both boys ascended from the ground. Sora nodded to Riku, and both picked up their umbrellas, folding them quickly as they disregarded them, being fully soaked now and running full force.

But the closer they came to the house, the more often Sora's heart went out of rhythm and the worse the bad sensation in his stomach began to be...

They finally approached their destination: Kairi's house. Pratically hurling themselves onto the roofed porch, Riku flung a hand to the doorbell. They shivered outside until the front door opened.

"Oh my god! You two are soaked!"

"Well, let's state the obvious," Riku replied sarcastically, giving Kairi a weak smile.

"Don't just stand out there! Get in here!" She gestured inside with both hands and tugged Sora in by the wrist, Riku following inside. "Here are towels." She handed each a yellow towel (preparing ahead of time, knowing her best friends well enough) and led them a bit further into the foyer.

"Now, what's all the commotion about?" Sora asked through gritted teeth, hiding his sudden weakness as best as he could as he fixed his soaking hair with a towel.

"You didn't tell him?" Kairi looked at Riku, who shook his head gently.

"How? You thought he would have believed me?"

"Believed _what_? Hello, Sora wants to know!" He addressed himself third-person, throwing his hands to his hips in a girly pout with a towel held in left hand.

"Hey, you're out of these... 'Teddy Graham' things..." A figured appeared in the open entrance. All three looked towards the source of the voice.

Green interlocked with blue.

A voice deafened Sora's ears and he fell onto the floor, unaware of his own screaming. A sudden tumult began, all three looking at each other in a scare. (Though Axel was more frightened than actually _caring_.) Kairi was the first one to speak. "Sora!"

"_Axel! Axel!"_

"Get out of my head!"

"_No! Let me out!"_

"Stop it! Aaahhh!"

Two hands covered his ears, trying to block out the person who competed for his body. All attempts were in vain... his body ached, and something, something he could not identify, was eating him inside like a parasite. There was almost nothing he could do, except kneel and scream.

"Please!" As hard as he fought, he was losing. Slowly, he lost control of his body.

"Sora!" A different voice, Riku, called to him. He could barely sense the fingers brush against his back, but the other half did too.

"Don't you touch me, you bastard!" the voice called outloud. Riku jumped back. Sora regained control. "No, Riku, wait—help me!" The tears were way out of control, beginning and already flowing down his face.

"Wha... what do I do?" the older asked outloud, looking to Kairi for the answer. But he looked at the wrong person.

"Back up," came the gruff voice, heavy but quick footsteps approaching the younger boy. Riku scrambled backwards as Axel kneeled before Sora. "Stop," was all it took to make the room completely silent. Two watering orbs of blue looked up to see Axel's face. "I'm right here."

"But... I want to..."

Axel shushed him, holding a finger to his own lips. "It'll be all right."

Silently, Sora's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collasped on the floor. Silence imbued the room.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

"What the hell happened?" Riku asked, leaning over to bury his face in his lap and grabbing his hair as if he were going to pull it out. His eyes peered over to Sora, sprawled out beside him on the couch unconscious.

"He must have been calling to him," Kairi spoke quietly.

"Who? Sora's?" Riku murmured.

"No, Roxas," replied a third voice.

Two green widened eyes looked up to meet two green slanted ones. "Roxas? Well, that would explain why Sora had been acting up before and now—but what about the sleep loss?"

"Roxas was calling in the dark. Remember he couldn't sleep at night, but frequently napped during the day?"

"But he's not a Heartless, Kairi, he's a Nobody—"

"He's the dark part of Sora's heart, though." Both teenagers looked back to Axel. "Yes, he's his Nobody, but the darkness in Sora's heart is Roxas. Riku, you met Roxas. He wasn't such a pleasant fellow, was he?"

Riku shook his head silently.

"So Roxas was trying to squirm free and control Sora's body."

"But he's his _Nobody_! And he doesn't have a heart to feel, so why—"

"Just because we don't have a heart doesn't mean we don't feel."

"That's exactly what it means to have a heart, you dolt."

"Maybe..." Axel's voice dropped as he paused to think. He shook his head, disregarding the thought. "The problem is, Roxas is trying to gain control over Sora. He obviously sees me and begins to fight. I don't know if the kinder half can handle that." Two eyes of green and one of blue all peered towards the sleeping Sora. ...or was it Roxas now?

It killed Riku inside to think something like that. No Sora...

No, no. Sora's heart was too strong to be overpowered by somebody—some_thing _that didn't even have a heart. _'Think positive, Ri,' _he tried to comfort himself. _'He'll wake up and I'll be right here, not like last time...' _Without knowing it, he sighed loudly.

Axel noticed this action and turned to Kairi. "Hey, let's talk in the kitchen."

"But—"

"Come on," he urged, jerking his head in gesture. She picked up some kind of hint and followed his leading guidance to the kitchen.

"Why did you pull me away?" she insisted quietly once their feet hit ceramic tile.

"Why do you think? Did you see the way he looked at Sora?" She shook her head, confused by the statement. "Just because I don't have a heart doesn't mean I don't recognize what the heart feels."

"Meaning?"

"What would you do if one of your friends told you they were gay?"

"I wouldn't really _care_, but what does that have—" It clicked. "Are you suggesting—"

"It's so obvious. Why didn't you notice it before?" Axel wore a "dur" expression.

"Well, I mean, I thought there may have been _something _odd about Riku's behavior, but I never really thought..." The rest of the sentence continued without words.

Meanwhile, Riku had taken the notion to sit Sora's head in his lap, gently shifting soft brunette locks through his bare fingers. Sure, Sora's hair was always spiked and out of control, but somehow it was always as soft as silken threads...

The small gesture comforted Riku. Roxas was always cold. Cold because he had no heart—no light—_nothing _to warm him inside. But Sora... Sora was vibrant with light and warm. This boy, who slept in his lap, was warm. He was Sora.

And Sora would never change. If he had, it would have been Riku's funeral and damnation. It was because of him that Riku never truly lost his heart, and in the end, he was able to find his home and friends once more.

Even as Riku had begun to change and let himself be consumed by the darkness...

Sora's strength was what pieced him back together again.

"Riku?" the soft voice called for him. Riku's heart jumped. "Riku..."

"Hm?" He turned onto his back to look up at Riku with soft blue eyes. It was now confirmed—Sora was still inside the shell.

"I had this weird dream that we went out in the rain and ran to Kairi's house, and then we saw Axel, and Roxas was inside of—"

"That wasn't a dream, kid." The redhead was back, leaning against the doorframe that separated the living room from the kitchen. Sora struggled slightly to see that indeed it _hadn't _been a dream. Shock showed on his face quite well.

"Axel? Why are you—"

"Don't ask me why I'm here. I don't know." He walked in and stood directly in front of the boys. "All I know is that it's connected to Roxas... and you."

"Me?"

"Roxas still lives inside you. When you first saw me, _he _saw me too. Thus started a reaction, and why you went berserk."

"Roxas..." His eyes, Riku noticed, seemed to peer through the ceiling. He was in a different place right now... thinking. He closed them gently. A few silent minutes passed before Sora finally spoke first, "Would there be a way to separate Roxas from my body?"

But both already knew the answer. Axel was the one who answered. "No. Roxas is your shell. You're the heart."

"Roxas... is my shell?"

"You _do _remember what happens when somebody succumbs to the darkness, correct?"

"Yeah. The heart of somebody becomes the Heartless, and the body becomes the—" His voice faltered. "the Nobody."

"Right. You and Roxas make you whole." He didn't seem to care—that is, until he averted his eyes away.

This brought out Riku's curiosity. Axel, _caring_ about something so trivial? Or... was it that trivial? There _had _been something between Axel and Roxas... until Roxas was wiped of his memories and taken to the replica Twilight Town.

Well, wiped... or... just forgotten? Roxas was a bit aggressive to be the "new" Roxas.

"Axel... I'm sorry." Both were surprised by Sora's sudden apology.

"For what, kid?"

"That you can't see Roxas. It's... my fault..."

"Don't say that!" Riku intervened. "It's _not _your fault! _You _were the one who was born and grew up. Roxas on the other hand... was never supposed to exist."

"Wanna say that again?" The silver-haired teen realized that he had crossed into bad territory. But instead of looking back with a stupefied gaze (as Sora had been giving Axel) Riku only shot a glare at the redhead, who was staring angrily back. The tension in the room grew thick like fog and Sora felt a cold sting to his heart—though he chose to ignore it.

"I don't think he meant to say that, Axel—"

But he only stormed out of the room in a huff before Sora could finish as Kairi entered.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"He said the wrong thing," the brunette answered for him.

Kairi gasped in realization. "Sora, you're awake!" Rushing over, she knelt by his side. "Are you okay? Hurt?"

"I'm fine..." That was a lie though; the pain in his chest was starting to worsen.

"We were so worried!"

"Kairi, it's okay." He laughed at her expression. "_I'm _okay. You look as if I had a heart attack or something."

"Oh, don't you start making stupid puns!"

"What?..."

"_Heart _attack, Sora," Riku explained, stifling his laugh as best as he could.

"Heart— Kairi, I wasn't even _trying _to make a joke!"

"As long as you're alive..." She bent over and held his head in her arms. "God, I was so scared. You looked like... you looked like you were dying, in pain, you really did..."

Riku nodded silently in agreement, though the gesture was not observed by the brunette. "I can't imagine what it felt like, but I don't think you know what it looked like either. She has a right to be frightened, I was too..."

"You were?" The redhead finally let go of Sora and leaned back on her knees, giving Sora much-needed oxygen once more.

"Of course," they said in unison.

The ache that hid within the young boy's ribcage began to throb, and couldn't stop himself from clutching his chest and gasping before he realized what it looked like.

"Sora?" Riku said, fear slightly shaking his voice.

"It's nothing, really. I need sleep. I haven't been getting much of that, have I?" He forced a chuckle, but his friends did not look any more comforted by the explanation.

"Sora..."

"Really. I feel sick when I lose sleep. Let me just fall asleep, right now..." Now this was almost the whole truth. Sora hadn't been getting enough sleep, and he was tired enough to fall asleep right where he woke up. Of course, the little white lie that hid within the truth was the cause of the pain.

It wasn't quite enough for the two, but they took it, all the same. Kairi peered to the window before returning her gaze to Riku. "It's raining like cats and dogs. Maybe you two should stay here."

"Your parents wouldn't mind?"

"As long as yours don't." She was up and gone for no longer than a moment, handing Riku a black cordless phone. "Just call them so they don't panic."

"You got it." He dialed six numbers before looking up at Kairi. "You think Sora'll be okay?"

"He's gotta be okay. After all we've been through, he's gotta be okay." Though, the comment was more of a source of reassurance rather than a good explanation.

"You're right." He punched the seventh number and held the receiver to his ear.

"If you need me, I'll be in my room. God knows where Axel went," she whispered, leaving.

Two calls later, Riku coaxed into the couch's warm seat. Sora squirmed slightly. Closing his eyes, Riku ran his fingers through the brunette locks again, twisting lightly and feeling them in between his index finger and thumb. "Sweet dreams."

Sadly, this was only a farewell into the night. If only it had been a wish that had come true...

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

When Riku awoke, he found himself alone. _'Sora?' _He looked for his sleeping companion, who must have woken and ran off somewhere. The teen wanted to talk to him about the previous night while Kairi wasn't around, but at this rate, that may not happen.

"Sora?" He called out loud, rubbing an eye and attempting to stand from the couch. He found himself to be taken by a dizzy spell, and swaggered, having the appearance of a drunken man. When he got his footing, he walked about the house.

When he entered the kitchen, the site that greeted him could have shot and killed him if it had a gun.

"Roxas?"

"Well, hi." The addressed blonde shot him a teasing smile.

Riku's face went pale. "Wh-what did you do to Sora?"

"Oh, nothing. I just snuck up on him last night."

The image of Sora clutching his shirt flashed in Riku's mind. "You... you!" Before his mind could work with his feelings, he felt his feet spring forward and make an attempt to strangle the doppelganger. But he met the floor instead with the help of an arm.

"Don't touch him," came the gruff response of Axel.

"Sora... this isn't happening... where's Sora..."

"Right in here." Axel walked back to Roxas and pointed to his chest. "He's just sleeping in a bit."

Riku made an inhuman growl. "Bastards..."

"What's going on—" Kairi chose a bad time to enter. "Ro-Roxas?"

"The one and only." He smirked.

"What an ironic greeting..." Riku said as he rose from the floor. "You _came _from Sora. You're nothing more than a dolly."

"A dolly? That's a tad harsh." The Roxas Kairi met now—she had never met before, Riku thought. He had Sora's blue eyes, but Sora's eyes were of summer sky. Roxas's were cold icicles that pierced through the hearts he was missing. Same color, different feeling.

"If you're worried about Sora, don't be. He's just peachy. Sound asleep, has no idea." Roxas was still showing that cheeky grin of his, but something about it gave a little relief to the two. Maybe Roxas really wasn't up to anything bad.

No, but why suddenly would he fight for control over Sora's body? Did he really care for Axel that much?

"Hey, thanks for the hospitality, Kairi. Me and Roxas are goin' out for a bit. See you later." Axel took Roxas's wrist, who complied into the grab, and both were out the door before Sora's friends could sneak in a word.

"Do you think we can trust Roxas's word?" Kairi spoke quietly, averting her gaze.

The question went unanswered, except the silence. "Riku?"

He made a guttural sound as he fell to his knees. "Riku!" The younger girl rushed to his side as he crumpled forward into a heap. "What's wrong? Are you—" She stopped when she heard him sobbing.

"Sora... _Sora..._"

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

"It's been a _week, _Riku! You're going to school!"

"But I'm still sick..."

"Baloney! Come _down _here, now!"

"Moooommmm!" The silver headed teen crawled further into the bed like a wriggling worm, burying his face into the pillow.

"Honey." He could hear her voice in the room now. Footsteps sounded closer and closer as they moved towards the bed. "You're not sick, and you hate missing school. So what's the matter?"

He was silent. If he showed his face, or even really said anything, it would trigger more questioning. Which, really, he wasn't in the mood for. She wouldn't understand.

"What? Don't want to talk to me?" He didn't see her next move until it was too late: the pillow snatched from his head, his messy bed head partially covering his red, puffy face. When his green eyes met with hers, she was somewhat taken back. She hadn't seen Riku cry in a very long time. "Okay, is it... Sora?"

Everyone on Destiny Islands knew by now that Sora had disappeared once more. His parents were worried sick, but everyone had tried to assure themselves that the teenage brunette was fine—he _had _come against some pretty tough enemies. But Riku and Kairi were the only ones who knew the truth. That Roxas, the new visitor to the islands, was the culprit behind the crime of Sora's disappearance. And partially it was Axel's fault. If he had never come, Roxas would have never had a reason to do something like this in the first place.

"Riku, Hun. Just because he's not here doesn't mean the world's stopped spinning. Life goes on, and you have an education to receive, whether or not you saved the world. Sora's bound to show up soon."

"But, you don't understand..."

"Hm?"

He sighed deeply. There was no way of explaining it without making it drawn-out, difficult, heart-breaking, or all three. "I'll get on my uniform."

His mother nodded. "It'll be all right, I promise."

She left the room, and he laid there a moment, body paralyzed in heartache. _'Oh, Mom, I wish you could keep _all _your promises...'

* * *

_

-00—00-

* * *

"Riku, why did you come? You're not even thinking about school. You're barely here, albeit your dead body walked in."

"My mother made me, " he said, almost monotone.

"It'll be all right. I promise."

Sigh. "No, everyone keeps saying that. Don't you get it Kairi? Roxas took Sora's body—_forever._ He's not going to give it back because people miss him. I couldn't even get him back for when Sora was sleeping through the remainder of his fourteenth year."

She fell silent. No point in trying to argue it.

The walk home for the two of them was awkwardly quiet. But the noiseless atmosphere was shattered by a laugh. '_Goddammit,' _Riku thought. It was Roxas and Axel.

Both pairs stopped in front of each other. To Kairi's surprise, she felt something leap from her body... Naminé?

"Roxas, don't do this," she suddenly said. "This isn't like you. Sora is—"

"I once forgot who I was," he spat back. "But now I know. And God _forbid _if you're going to take away my newfound happiness away from me."

'_Newfound happiness?' _Riku thought. "Well, maybe we don't enjoy our 'newfound' sorrow. Don't you see? We need Sora."

"Correction, need_ed." _

"Roxas, Sora grew up here, and he knows many people. We were never meant to exist—"

"Don't you go around saying that either, Naminé!" Axel intervened. "Didn't you ever just want to _live_? Is it _our _fault we exist? It's nobody's. We _are _Nobodies, intended by nobody. So then why must we fall victim to a crime that was never our fault?"

"Axel—"

"Even if... the world doesn't need Sora..." Riku said quietly, bringing the conversation to an abeyance, "I don't _have _a world without Sora. I..." He succumbed to the twisting knot inside he called a "stomach" and covered his face with a hand. "I _need _Sora." Though he did his best to hide it, a tear escaped from the mask, dribbling softly down his cheek and dripping off his chin. "He's the light that takes away my darkness..." He couldn't choke back the soft sobs.

"_I can hear someone..." Closed eyes were slightly blinking, barely opening. "Someone crying..."_

"Please... give me Sora back!" Before he really knew what he was doing, he ran to Roxas and shook his frame by his jacket. "Goddammit... please! He doesn't deserve a fate like this!"

"_Riku... Riku, is that you?"_

"You... you have no idea how much it hurts to love him... let alone let him be taken from me!"

"_Riku!" _

Roxas's eyes lost their color as he became limp in Riku's grip. He caught the boy as he fell into his arms. For a moment, he could have sworn he had just dropped dead—until a mysterious light fluttered about the dead body. "R-Roxas!" he could hear Axel shout, and all four (with Naminé included in that count) were blinded by the temporarily radiance, until it faded.

"Riku..." the boy murmured, his voice quiet.

"Sora... is that you? Sora!" Riku adjusted the body still in his hold to see that there was a brunette instead of the blonde. "Sora!" He didn't stop himself—he didn't _bother _to try to hide his extreme joy, squeezing the boy close to his chest. It was totally un-Riku, but he had felt so un-Riku for the past week that he kind did feel Riku-ish in an odd way... the very thought made him want to bubble up and burst like a balloon. But instead of making a mess of himself, he just let it all out; sobbing happily.

* * *

**A/N: Well, I gotta say, this was sort of random and badly written. But it reached the point I was shooting for. Just happened to be a path I wasn't expecting... at all. I absolutely love how Riku goes from his house to Sora's to Kairi's. That little man-whore. xD; I'm just picking on Riku, I really don't mean that. (huggles him) Squeee...**

**Sorry for crappy chapter write. (is shot multiple times) I tried. I'm surprised I got _any _updates done... don't expect any more for another four weeks, at least. I work and then my trip to EUROPE! YAYZ! If you all wanna talk to me, go to my bio page and find me somewheres. I lurv to talk to people. **

**Oh, and don't forget to review. Reviews are awwwwesome. They make me go "awww." Get it? HAHAHA. Oh, geez. Sorry...**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Yes, I'm finally updating! Sorry it took so long… between going to Europe, going back to work, and just having a huge writer's block, I couldn't find a way to finish this off.**

**Ahh… yes, after this, _An Unanticipated Storm _is finished.**

**The reason that the last chapter moved so fast was because this fanfic was originally intended to finish in three chapters, but it ended up being at least four. It took a direction I didn't quite intend, but it ended up being okay… it went in that general place.**

**Disclaimer: ShimaGenki has no ownage. If I did, I would overrule Disney on their policy of doujinshi. ;-;**

**I hope you enjoy the conclusion of this fic! …really, I hope so.

* * *

**_**An Unanticipated Storm**_

_Chapter 4

* * *

_

"So… did you mean it?"

"Mean… what?"

"What you said about me. That you needed me." Sora's gaze was averted from the ocean shore to the boy next to him, who repeated the action back with a mildly surprised look on his face.

"Of course I meant it, Sora. You're my best friend in the whole world… the whole universe." As nervousness built up inside of the older boy, he turned his head back to the waves, lapping up on the beach sand. "Actually…" he paused, seeming to think. "No, no. Forget it."

"Aw, come on, Riku. What is it?"

"You're my best friend and that's all there is to it."

"You're lying… you started to say something."

The silver haired teen sighed. "No… I was going to say something different. But that's all there really is to it."

Sora opened his mouth to argue, but he knew that no matter how many times he persisted, Riku would never budge and spill. "Well…" Both looked at the ocean, each in their own silent contemplation. "You know, it's not fair."

"What's not fair?"

"About Roxas."

"Roxas? Roxas is a big jerk who can't think of anything besides—"

"That's not true. He just wants to live… to be his own person. But because of me—"

"Sora, it's your life. Live it. He's a Nobody and can't feel anything."

"That's not true!" Sora argued, finally looking at Riku as he raised his voice. "Maybe he was born from Nothing, but who's to say Nobodies can't… _develop _feelings?"

"They look like they can feel, but it's just an illusion."

"Riku, Roxas… is hurting right now." A pause filled the empty space. "No doubt about it, I can feel him. His heart… it's aching."

"Are you sure?" Riku asked, his voice tense.

"I said, no doubt about it. I… just can't help feeling helpless. He wants to be with Axel… that's _all _he wants, but I…" He looked down as his voice dropped.

"But you…?"

"I just want to be with you. And Kairi. And everyone else. But we can't _both _be here, and what a mess it would be if we kept switching back and forth."

"That would also be hard on your body, I assume."

"Exactly…" His eyes shifted to the lower left, and he bit his lip in thought.

"Sora. _You _were the one born into your body. It's _your _right to be."

"Does that make it _wrong _for him to live? Just because he was born from the darkness does not make him darkness himself." Sora shook his head sadly. "It sometimes seems like he's of darkness now, but it's just pain. Blind, sad pain."

Riku stared at the anguished brunette for a few lingering moments. What to do? He couldn't lose Sora, _his _Sora, he just couldn't. But Sora, being the selfless person he was, was more likely to give Roxas life than let him live any more of his own.

The thought felt like someone drove an arrow right through his chest, and then began to twist it slowly, organs twisting around it like spaghetti.

"Sora you _do _know if you sacrificed yourself, how many people would miss you?"

"I know," Sora replied quietly. "That's why it's so hard… No matter what happens, somebody's heart's gonna get broken."

Riku couldn't find the words to answer. All he could think was, _'I hope it's not _my _heart that gets broken…'

* * *

_-00—00-

* * *

"So… do you know what you're going to do yet?" Kairi asked, walking along with Sora. Riku had been asked to be alone earlier on the beach of the small island, so she accompanied the brunette through the center of the island. No where were Tidus, Wakka or Selphie to be found… just the three teenagers now on the island. 

Sora only shook his head no.

"Well, Axel doesn't look too good. Ever since you came back, he's had himself cooped up in the guest room. My parents are concerned too, but what can _they _do?"

"Nothing," Sora answered. He knew it was supposed to be a rhetorical question, but he had to say something… something before he blurted he did not want to. But, he went ahead and said it anyway. "Um, Kairi…"

When he did not finish his response, Kairi gave him a concerned look. "What is it, Sora?"

"What would you do… if I gave Roxas my body?"

They halted in their pace. Voice caught in her throat, Kairi's eyes widened by a fraction.

"I feel so selfish if I don't… but…"

"Sora, I know how you feel about Roxas and I see your point, but just think about it. There are so many people that care about you… are you willing to make them sad because of one boy?"

"But what about Axel? What would _you _do if you were in my shoes?"

"I…" Kairi exhaled. "I don't know what I would do if I were you. I really don't."

"Maybe—" Sora's voice stalled as his blue eyes widened and he fell to his knees. Kairi kneeled quickly by his side.

"Sora! Sora, are you okay? Answer me!"

He felt the world fading away, his sight becoming blurred and his body losing its feeling…

"Sora! Come on, come on…" The redhead's voice became more distant as Sora fell into the nothingness within himself.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

Meanwhile, Riku's meditation was interrupted by a figure that appeared beside him. Immediately, the silver haired boy rose to his feet, giving Axel a stare down. "What the hell do you want?" he spat.

"You know what I want," he responded, his voice uncharacteristically cold.

"Well, that's a shame. Sora's back, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it."

Axel bent his knees as if he were readying himself for battle. "Are you sure about that, kid? As I recall, Roxas still lives inside Sora, and can come back once more."

"So, you want to take away Sora's life so you can be with Roxas?"

"And _you _want to take away Roxas's life so you can be with Sora?"

"But Sora came first."

"So what? Being first is for ticket lines and siblings."

Both knew that their verbal war could go back and forth for a long time, so they both gave each other a look of death before holding their hands out to call their own weapons to their sides.

"Shall we dance?" Axel called, swirling his chakram **(1) **about his hands.

"It'll be _your _pleasure!" Riku hissed, fixing his grip on his Keyblade. He was the first to burst forward, the blade swinging to the side. Axel quickly grabbed his chakram and raced forward to meet the other.

* * *

-00—00-

* * *

"Sora?" The addressed brunette looked to where he was. It was completely dark, except for Roxas standing before him. It felt like de ja vu…

It was just like his dream from before.

"Roxas?" he responded. "I… what are we?..."

"This is the nothingness that resides within you. Look, I know I've been harsh lately, but understand—"

"I already do, Roxas," he interrupted. "I already understand. All that there's left to do beyond that is…"

"To settle this. You know as well as I do that no matter what choice we make, someone gets hurt."

"Right."

"So… I think we should decide this on a battle." For a second, Sora's face read, 'I agree,' but a certain realization dawned upon him. "Whoever wins gets to stay."

"But… Roxas… how can we fight if we're the same person?"

"_We're _not fighting. Can't you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"The sound of two men in battle. Why don't you see for yourself?" Before Sora could ask, his body was plunged back into his own world. He blinked momentarily, seeing Kairi at his side.

"Sora? You okay?"

"Uhh… yeah, I'm okay," he replied shakily. "But…" He paused, hearing distant shouts. "What's that?"

"I think it's Riku and Axel," she said.

"Riku… and Axel?" He suddenly understood what Roxas had really meant. He was seeing which would win… and whoever won obviously fought harder for them. "Well, let's go see… we wouldn't want them to get hurt." Sora shuffled to his feet and ran back to where he had left Riku, followed closely by Kairi.

When the two entered the scene, they immediately knew that they had come at mid-battle.

Axel's face was painted with one cut running across his cheek and dribble of blood running down it. His arms were trembling slightly, and his jeans had some new holes in them. Riku's left eye was squinted, and there many fine scrapes through-out his arms, a few deep cuts in his left. They seemed to be fresh, as Riku rose his left hand to cover them and use a healing spell to cure the wound as best as possible.

"Give it up!" Riku shouted, guarding his legs with his weapon. "My heart's stronger than yours… seeing as you don't _have _one!"

"Kid… you're asking for it!" New found energy made Axel spring forward, weapons readying to launch a blast of fire towards the opposing fighter. Riku tried to side-step towards the left to dodge the torch, but he wasn't fast enough. Flames grazed his right arm and he cried in anguish, dropping Way to the Dawn **(2) **at his feet. "_You, _give it up."

"Never," he growled through his gritted teeth. "I would never lose… to you…" His left hand quivered as he tried to hold it over his right arm to cast another spell of Hyper Healing. Though it was helpful, it did not eliminate the painful burning sensation. Deciding to keep going, he held out his right arm again to have his Keyblade appear in it once more. "Axel! You're _dead_!"

When Riku drove across the sand, Sora saw Kairi move to shout out of the corner of his eye. He blocked her with an arm. "No, wait… wait a bit longer."

"Why? If we let them keep going like this, one of them is bound to be dead… or both!"

"They wouldn't go as far as to kill each other, Kairi. And besides, there's something important that needs to be determined by this battle."

"What's that?" she inquired, looking at Sora curiously.

"Who's staying."

She squinted her eyes, giving him a confused look. He shook his head. "Just watch."

Axel swept his chakram to hit the oncoming boy, but he completely missed as Riku dove under and knocked his legs out from under him with his Keyblade. The older, lying on the ground, made a move to get up quickly, but found his left leg unable to move without causing pain. A dark shadow was over him, as Riku held his blade to Axel's face. "It's over. You can't win if you can't move. It's too bad… you might have had a chance if you hadn't suddenly opened your legs for an attack."

The red haired man cursed under his breath. "Fine… you win."

Sora shook his head sadly. "Riku won."

"And that means?" Kairi asked.

"I'm supposed to stay. But…" He looked away, closing his eyes. "Maybe… instead I…"

"Sora, what are you…" She paused when the brunette began to glow. "Sora! Wait! You can't mean…"

He smiled. "Hey, I'll see you around, all right?"

"Sora! No!"

Riku and Axel's attention was torn from each other and was now on the two spectators from the wooded path on the island. Axel could only sit in the sand and watch, and Riku was immobilized. Sora couldn't be… no no no…

"Sora!" was all Riku said.

And smile was all Sora did.

For a split second, the golden light brightened, and dimmed when Roxas appeared. He looked down at himself, lifted his hands and looked at them, and then peered up at the ocean sky. "Why did he…?" he asked himself quietly. "But Axel… he _lost_…"

"Sora… what did you do to Sora?" Riku shouted.

"I didn't do anything! I swear it!"

"Liar!"

"_He _was the one who was supposed to stay! _You _won!"

"…what the hell are you talking about?"

He shook his head before running towards Riku, stopping when he was a few feet away. "You and Axel started fighting, so me and Sora made a deal. If you won, Sora was the one who stayed, and if Axel won…"

"Then you would have stayed," finished the red head.

Roxas looked at him momentarily. "But Sora backed down anyway. I don't understand…"

"His heart's too strong," Riku murmured. "He wouldn't take something like that. It's not his nature."

"So then I guess you're here?" Axel asked, his voice almost hopeful.

But when Roxas's eyes darkened, Axel's hope was shattered. "Axel…" The blonde walked towards him and kneeled down to face the injured man. "I… know it'll be hard, but… just because you can't see me doesn't mean I'm not there. I'll always be _here_." He pointed to Axel's chest.

"Hey, silly. We don't have hearts, remember?"

"But who's to say we can't grow one?" He smiled. "If it feels like we have one, then that's enough, isn't it?"

"I…"

Riku suddenly saw what Sora had seen. Just because they're Nobodies makes them automatically without feeling… at least, that's assumed. But something drives them, something close to instinct. But when that drive is out of the lines of instinct… it becomes something that humans call feelings.

Feeling… something comprehended as an emotional state.

The loss of a friend… something taken as sadness.

The loss of someone you love so dearly, it makes your heart—or whatever may be there, ache… something understood as grief.

"Axel, I'll be with you always. You just gotta believe that." Riku was stunned when he saw the blonde kiss Axel, who was also taken aback. But he leaned into the soft kiss, just momentarily until Roxas pulled away. "Don't you forget that." He stood up and faced Riku next. "And _you. _You better take care of Sora. See ya around." Turning to Axel one more time, a bittersweet goodbye twinkled in his eyes. "Keep on living, Axel."

The light came… and was gone. And there was Sora standing in that place once more. There was a few moments of silence, aside from Kairi's footsteps as she finally ran towards the boys.

"Sora… you… how could you?" Riku finally broke the silence.

"As I was watching you and Axel fight, it occurred to me that Axel and Roxas would be happier together than I and…" He stopped in mid-sentence.

"How could you even think that? Sora, we're best friends, and—"

"But I want to be _more _than that, Riku!"

"Closer than that? What's past best friends?"

"Are you _dense, _Riku?" Sora shouted, closing his eyes. "I mean… augh… _I love you_!"

"What?" Sora's face turned red as the three others gave him a look bred between confusion and surprise.

"I said it! I know, it's completely wrong, but when I think about you, I feel all weird inside, and then I think of things I shouldn't even _know _about, and my heart races like a hummingbird and I just want to be with you for the rest of my life and—"

"Sora! Calm down, just a second!" Riku held his hands out as if that were actually going to _do _anything.

"…did I say too much?"

"Yes—I mean, no… I… I like you too."

"You mean like…"

"Yes, I… I love you too." Sora's eyes lit up, and he couldn't hide the grin on his face. Neither could Riku.

"Riku… I…" And Sora bursted into a full laugh as he ran into his arms, wrapping his limbs around Riku's shoulders as he was lifted around the waist and into the blue endless sky above Riku. When he was put down onto the ground seconds later, they both plunged in for a kiss, tasting the sweetness of a first love.

Kairi and Axel at this point looked like they were out of place characters in a cheesy chick flick, so Kairi walked over to lend a hand to the wounded man. He took her hand gratefully, standing up and leaning his weight on his right leg and wrapped an arm around her for extra balance.

When he was up, they were still kissing. As much as Kairi loved the two of them, it was quite embarrassing to watch them make out. But saying something would be kind of rude.

To her luck though, Axel wasn't afraid to clear his throat rather loudly, which caught their attention. They looked at each other momentarily, and blushed.

"Guess… we caught up in the moment?" Sora chuckled, nervously, his cheeks tinted pink.

"So what about me? Where do I go now?" Axel asked.

"You stay here with us," Riku responded, as if his face wasn't flaring with red from embarrassment.

"Me? Stay? There's no one here to stay for."

"Sure there is!" Sora said. "You've got three people standing right here."

"…you'd _want _me?"

"Duh!" Sora said, walking over and playfully knocking on Axel's head with his fist. "We just off to the wrong start, that's all! Actually, let's start all over again. I'm Sora." He held out a hand to the red head, who stared at it briefly. Then he gripped it with his free hand, shaking it.

"Okay, then, the name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

_The end… of a new beginning.

* * *

_

**(1) - When I went to check what the name of Axel's weapon was, in Jiminy's journal it only claimed, _"a uniquely shaped weapon." _So, since it reminded me of Colette's chakram, I decided to call it by that. I don't know if chakram is plural with an s or not… so I took a good guess and decided it wasn't. Later I found as I flipped through my guidebook that it _was _a chakram after all! I'm so cool. (not)**

**(2) – Way to the Dawn is Riku's weapon, just in case you all forget or got confused.**

**A/N: Dur. (hit with sharp objects) YES, IT WAS THE CHEESIEST ENDING KNOWN TO (wo)MAN. SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP.**

**I couldn't help the cheesy ending though. I'm kind of satisfied with it. I'm sorry there was no good kissing action, but I'm not in the mood to write it right now, and I never really intended a deep kissy kissy moment. Sorry if I crushed your hopes and dreams, but this was a softer fic for the less hardcore shonen-ai fans. **

**I bet you all were expecting for a way for Sora and Roxas to separate. Haha. Get real. That's _too _cheezy.**

**Anyway, enough ranting. Review kids, or I will cry a huge river of tears. And now that this fic is done (CUE THE PARTAY!) I can finally start up my newest fic. Who can say… DOCTORS, AFFAIRS, AND ANGST ALL AROUND? (I can! W00t!)**


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